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Slashdot Asks: Should Android OEMs Adopt the iPhone's Notch?

Posted by BeauHD on from the take-it-or-leave-it dept.

Earlier this year, Bloomberg reported that Google was currently working on a "dramatic redesign" of its Android OS -- one that embraces the "notch" made popular by the iPhone X. A couple weeks after that report was published, Mobile World Congress was happening, and the biggest trend among Android OEMs was the introduction of a notch in their smartphones. The Verge's Vlad Savov argues that Android smartphone manufacturers are straight up copying the iPhone's design with "more speed and cynicism" than ever before.

Should Android original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) adopt the iPhone's display notch? A display notch can offer a greater screen-to-body ratio, for example, but lower overall aesthetic value. It can also create a headache for developers who need to update their apps to account for the notch that eats into the actual display area. What are your thoughts on display notches? Should Android OEMs adopt the iPhone X's display notch in their devices?

If you're not a fan of notches for aesthetic reasons, you may like the solution that OnePlus has come up with. The company will soon be launching their notch-equipped OnePlus 6 smartphone, but will allow OnePlus 6 owners to "hide" the device's notch via software. Users will have the option to black out the background of the notifications and status bar if they so desire.

7 of 240 comments (clear)

  1. Popular? by jdharm · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...the "notch" made popular by the iPhone X.

    Really? "Popular" seems a bit of a stretch.

    1. Re: Popular? by peragrin · · Score: 5, Insightful

      In reality the notch is a temporary design shift made by limits of current tech. In the not to distant future. Cameras that see through the displays will increase in resolution the infrared backlight will be from the whole screen etc.

      The tech exists now. It just isn't refined enough for a phone.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    2. Re:Popular? by cahuenga · · Score: 4, Insightful

      the "notch" made popular by every automobile windshield produced in the last 40 years

      https://www.carid.com/images/p...

  2. No. by Guyle · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I do not see a need for this whatsoever. Leave my screen nice and rectangular, thank you very much. Should we start putting notches on laptop screens where the webcam is next?

  3. What the fuck is a "notch"? by DogDude · · Score: 5, Insightful

    What the fuck is a "notch" on an iPhone?

    --
    I don't respond to AC's.
  4. Makes it Harder for Cross-Platform Design by Koreantoast · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Agreed. If you want to be even more cynical, the notch creates a much more unique screen that adds just one more headache to developers who want to build applications for more than one operating system.

  5. Betteridge Answers for Us by ausekilis · · Score: 4, Insightful

    NO.

    It's really sad that since there isn't any real innovation happening with phones and the best we can come up with is a debate over whether we want some near unusable screen space on either side on the top of our phones.

    What about bluetooth that doesn't drop out? Better call quality and consistent connections? Better security and privacy settings? Better battery life? More options for storage? Or how about a phone that will survive falling from a nightstand and I don't need to buy a stronger case for?

    Instead we are paying $1k for a "flagship" phone that doesn't really do much more than that $300 phone 4 years ago.